Medal memories

My son Daniel (standing on the left holding sun glasses) put this photo on his "facebook" page today. It is of me and my three sons at Government House in Wellington in 2003. Seeing the photo brought back memories. I received an award in the 2002 New Year honours list and in due course we were invited to go to Government House to receive the medal from the Governor General. It was a bit of a hassle.

Who to take?

I think we were allowed to have a party of four, but we have five childen. I was determined to take my children since they were part of who and what I was, so we wrote and asked if we could have a party of 6, my wife, my three sons and oldest daughter. We left our foster daughter, who has severe handicaps at home. The people running the event replied giving us permission for six so we planned the trip. It was quite expensive. We had to fly to Wellington, find accommodation for two nights and get back home. I recall it stretched our budget a fair bit, but it was a once in a life time thing so we just had to do it.

What to wear?

There was a great wad of instructions about where to go, the format, what to wear and how to behave. These told us that suitable attire for the occasion would be suits for the men. Women were to wear a suitable dress. I had a problem with my family. "A suit!" said one of my sons, "I'm not wearing a bloody suit!" My wife went shopping for her attire and found a very smart pants-suit thingy that looked very nice.... but it was not a dress. My boys discussed their options and as you can see they did not all end up wearing suits. I have a family of rebels.

Fun to be had.

We booked in at a local back-packer place. It was quite a lot of fun, the Brown clan, like the Clampets in Hollywood, hitting the streets of the capital. When the time came we all went back to the accommodation, got suitably showered and dressed up and went to Government house in a taxi. We wandered the grounds for a bit, then I had to leave the family and get briefed and put into the right seat for the investiture. I recall listening to the names being read out and hearing the particulars of their service to the community. I was extremely humbled. I was among people who had given years and years of voluntary service in all sorts of ways. Scientists, people who had served on community committees for decades, athletes who had served their sport for years - as they listed off the names and service I could not help thinking, "What the hell am I doing here? It must be some mistake!" I recall there was a well known rodeo rider and administrator who seemed to hobble up to the platform and everyone had a bit of a chuckle. I was duly presented with the medal and in time the ceremony came to an end. We were hosted to afternoon tea, drinks and sandwiches, in the posh surroundings of Government house. Well my boys enjoyed the outing. They went from room to room, eating sandwiches, checking out the art work on the walls, and having a beer or two. I met a soldier who was part of the staff of the house who when I introduced myself said, "Oh you have some interesting children! I've been talking to them." I immediately thought the worst, but he recounted his pleasant conversations with my boys and commented on how creative they were.

After the afternoon tea, we went back to the backpackers, dressed in some more relaxed clothing and went out to a Little India restaurant for the night. It was the day we got a medal... I was determined to take the kids and my wife, because they had all been a part of whatever I had done to deserve the medal. The day was special, not because of the event or the medal, but because we celebrated together.